2015 AFCF CEO Coach of the Year - Greg Abel

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
AFCF CONTACT: Vince Thompson, Director of Media Relations     (254) 754-9900

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY ENERGY CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT AND CEO GREGORY E. ABEL TO RECEIVE 2015 AMERICAN FOOTBALL COACHES FOUNDATION CEO COACH OF THE YEAR® AWARD

WACO, TEXAS – The American Football Coaches Foundation® today announced that Gregory E. Abel, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, is the 2015 recipient of its CEO Coach of the Year® Award.

This is the highest honor bestowed by the organization, whose inaugural recipient in 2006 was Jeffrey R. Immelt, the CEO of General Electric. Former Domino’s Pizza CEO David Brandon, former MidAmerican Energy Holdings CEO David Sokol, former HP CEO Mark Hurd, FedEx Corp. Chairman and CEO Frederick W. Smith, BP Capital L.P. Chairman and CEO T. Boone Pickens, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Rex W. Tillerson and AT&T Inc. CEO Randall Stephenson received the honor in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, respectively.

Mr. Abel was selected for the award by a unanimous vote of the AFCF® Board of Directors. He will be honored at The Foundation’s CEO Coach of the Year Dinner, held at The Waldorf=Astoria® in New York, N.Y., on December 14, 2015.

“The American Football Coaches Foundation is proud to announce Greg as our 2015 CEO Coach of the Year, as he is one of our country’s premier corporate leaders and he has been a great supporter of the AFCF and our coaches for many years,” Grant Teaff, AFCA and AFCF executive director said. “Personally, it is such a privilege to honor Greg with this prestigious award because he is a great friend and someone I greatly admire!”

“I am honored and humbled to join the nine men who have received this prestigious award,” Abel said. “The AFCF is a high caliber, generous organization, which has benefitted from Coach Grant Teaff’s great leadership since its inception. I would like to thank the board of directors for selecting me for this upstanding award.”

Mr. Abel, 52, is chairman, president and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, based in Des Moines, Iowa.

Through its energy-related businesses and direction under Mr. Abel, Berkshire Hathaway Energy provides electric and natural gas service to more than 11.5 million customers worldwide. These businesses are Pacific Power, Rocky Mountain Power and PacifiCorp Transmission, comprising PacifiCorp; MidAmerican Energy Company; NV Energy, Inc.; Northern Powergrid Holdings Company; BHE Pipeline Group; BHE U.S. Transmission; AltaLink, L.P.; BHE Renewables; and HomeServices of America, Inc., which is the second-largest residential real estate brokerage firm in the U.S.

Mr. Abel also serves as chairman, CEO and director of PacifiCorp; as chairman and director of NV Energy, Northern Powergrid and Northern Natural Gas, and as a director of AltaLink and HomeServices.

Mr. Abel serves on the board and executive committee of the Edison Electric Institute and the Greater Des Moines Partnership. He also serves on the H.J. Heinz Company board of directors; the AEGIS Insurance Services, Inc. board of directors; the Nuclear Electric Insurance Limited board of directors; the Kum & Go, L.C. board of directors; the executive board of the Mid-Iowa Council Boy Scouts of America; the American Football Coaches Foundation board of directors; and is a past member of the Drake University board of trustees. Mr. Abel received his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Alberta in 1984. 

The funds raised from the CEO Coach of the Year dinner will support the AFCF’s education initiatives through the American Football Coaches Association’s publications, website and national convention. More than 6,000 football coaches from all levels attend the national convention, and more than 11,000 football coaches globally benefit through personal, technical and leadership development. Because of The Foundation, football coaches on all levels nationwide pay minimal membership dues.

The AFCF, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization, was established by the American Football Coaches Association in 1998 to fund its education mission. Its specific responsibility is to seek contributions from a broad range of donors – friends, businesses, corporations, foundations and trusts; to support and implement existing AFCA educational programs; and to develop exciting and dynamic new initiatives that will serve the coaches, the student-athletes, and the schools they represent. Contributions generated by The Foundation will ensure that the coaching community will continue to have the finest possible professional development and educational tools, now and in the future.

“Coach George Smith is not only an influence on young people, but the influence is multiplied many times in the beliefs of the young people he helped mold into amazing human beings. George is an outstanding coach, but more importantly, he is an outstanding gentleman.” —Tina Jones, Principal of St. Thomas Aquinas High School